Mobile handset sales to touch 270mn units in 2020

Total mobile handset sales are expected to touch 270 million units in 2020, which is a 2 per cent dip than the sales figures of 2019, primarily due to the falling sales of feature phones, a new report said on Tuesday.

According to techARC's key trends report for smartphones in India for the year 2020, smartphones will register a growth of 13.8 per cent in sales compared to 2019 while feature phones and smart feature phones sales are estimated to decline at 13 per cent and 34 per cent, respectively.

"It will be a business as usual year for the mobile industry with the sales driven by replacement and upgrade opportunities. Having that said, 5G and foldable smartphones will excite the entire value chain including the end users in 2020," Faisal Kawoosa, Founder and Chief Analyst, techARC, said in a statement.

However, according to the market research firm, the potential of foldable smartphones is not more than 100,000 units in India.

A total of 213 million smartphones will be sold in 2020 out of which 23 per cent (or 48 million) are estimated to be pre-owned smartphones.

The overall smartphone sales will grow at 13.3 per cent with new smartphone sales increasing at 13.8 per cent and pre-owned smartphone sales growing at 11.6 per cent.

Premium segment (Rs 25,001-Rs 50,000) will grow maximum in sales at 30 per cent as consumers will continue to find a wider range of products to choose from.

The luxe category (above Rs 50,000) will see the second highest growth at 26 per cent while the mid segment (Rs 10,001-Rs 25,000) will grow at 23 per cent in 2020.

Southern states will continue to sell more (32 per cent) smartphones. However, eastern states will see the maximum growth in sales at 28 per cent.

This will be followed by northern states at 20 per cent, western states at 10 per cent and southern states at 7 per cent growth in volume sales.

The offline channel will grow at 18 per cent fueled by heavy investments by brands in the channel to cater to rising opportunity beyond metros.